ALBUM REVIEW: Dance With The Devil – Nosebleed
Some bands feel more comfortable in the studio, whilst some prefer to be out on a stage performing to their fans. Garage rockers NOSEBLEED from Leeds felt so passionate about playing their music live that they delayed releasing their newest album Dance With The Devil by three years just so they could introduce these new tracks with the energy of a live performance.
Making sure to live up to this promise of spirit, title track Dance With The Devil kicks off the album. Coming in with some pop punky drum beats and fast-paced vocals, it kind of feels like you don’t know where to look first. We’re then treated to some chanted backing vocals which add a nice ambience to the track. Lead singer Eliott Verity has previously spoken about the meaning of this track, “Like a lot of the album, the single is about breakups… This one’s about that post breakup feeling of being torn about everything and wanting to give up and go feral, making some bad decisions for a little bit. We still wanted people to be able to dance to it though, despite what it was written about.” And dance to it you can; with its groovy guitar riffs and jumpy rhythm, you’d certainly want to dance with the devil too.
The sound of NOSEBLEED is hard to describe, but the band have been said to class themselves as “50’s rock n’ roll and 60s garage with a modern indie crunch”, which definitely makes for an intriguing combo. The track Lost And Found opens with a nice and deep guitar riff which is perfectly balanced out with an overlaid higher toned melody. Making another hard-hitting entrance, Verity‘s vocals on this track prove to be more aggressive and slightly screamy, adding another layer of depth to the song. This band doesn’t seem to like to play by the rules so an unexpected keyboard solo is not unwelcome and gives an added bit of oomph to this funky track. The sound gives a classic rock sort of vibe echoing some elements of the 80s.
Switching things up a bit with All I Know, this song leans towards the more indie aspect of the band’s sound. With some nostalgic sounding riffs and almost ARTIC MONKEYS-esque melodic vocals, this track could have almost been off of a different album completely. This isn’t a bad thing though, as the catchy nature of all the songs comes into effect here with an almost folk sounding vibe.
Another track that stands out is Under The Knife, kicking in with an almost pirate metal style riff which adds to the dance floor beckoning feel of this album. There is also an air of punk influence that underlies in the majority of the songs here, riddled with angst and irritation. For the most part, the choruses are simple to recite so will make for some good sing-along moments, and if NOSEBLEED really do rip up the stage, their audience are in for a treat.
Rating: 7/10
Dance With The Devil is set for release on November 11th via TNSRecords.
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